If you're looking for hearty centrepiece to a vegan or vegetarian holiday meal, this 'domino' potato pie will do the trick. It's got it all - crispy potato bits, creamy sauce, and a generous filling. The golden saffron hue makes for a really bright and happy dish, not to mention the fun of stacking potato slices like little dominos!
Serves: 6-8
Ingredients
850g floury potatoes
400g of carrots, cut into 1cm chunks
200g of courgette, cut into 1cm chunks
3 cups soy or rice milk
6 bay leaves
good pinch of saffron
4 tbsp Macadamia Nut oil, plus a drizzle
1 large onion, halved and finely sliced
1/2 garlic clove, crushed
4 tbsp corn flour
small bunch parsley, chopped
Method
Peel and thinly slice the potatoes, tip into a pan of cold water and bring to a simmer. Turn off the heat, leave the potatoes in the water for 1 min, then drain and leave to cool in a colander. The potatoes should still feel firm and hold their shape.
In a saucepan, add 1 tbsp of Macadamia oil and the onion. Fry for 8-10 minutes until starting to caramelise, then add the carrot chunks and courgette. Stir fry for another 3-4 minutes, before pouring over the milk. Add 2 bay leaves, crushed garlic and saffron threads and bring to a gentle simmer, cover with a lid, then lower the heat and cook for 4 mins. (Note: if you don't have saffron, but would like the lovely bright yellow colour, use 1/2 teaspoon of turmeric powder.)
While the vegetables is cooking - in a cup, mix the corn flour with 2 tbsp of water to make a thin sauce. Take the saucepan off the heat, remove the vegetables from the milk and set aside the bay leaves.
Add 1 tbsp of Macadamia oil to the milk and bring back to a gentle simmer. Using a whisk, slowly stir in the cornflour mixture, until you have a smooth, thick sauce - about 5 minutes. Keep stirring throughout If the consistency is not thick enough to your preference, add more cornflour mixture. Stir in the parsley, season well with salt and pepper, and remove from the heat.
Heat oven to 200ºC/180ºC fan/gas 6. Pour half of the sauce into a large casserole dish. Scatter the vegetables over the sauce. Spoon over the rest of the sauce.
For the topping: Stack a few potato slices together at a time and trim off the edges to create a rectangle– don’t worry if it’s not perfect. Continue making stacks of rectangular potatoes until they’re all used up. Scatter the bits of potato trimmings over the sauce evenly, then arrange the slices on top in a domino pattern, fanning them out to cover the surface. You can either alternate the direction of every row, like we did, or have them all go the same way.
Tuck the bay leaves (2 from the pot, 4 from the pack) in among the potato slices, season with salt and pepper, and a bit of smoked paprika if you have it, and drizzle with Macadamia oil. Bake for 45 mins until the potatoes are tender and golden and the sauce is bubbling up around the edges. Remove from the heat and let it sit for a few minutes to cool before tucking in.